The Thief of Joy

I’ve been considering for a couple days whether I should submit my latest play for publication. I have a couple of plays published already, which is kind of cool. They don’t get produced much, so I get very little income from that, unfortunately. I am happy that the scripts are out there getting used rather than sitting in silence on my laptop. But still – a bit more income would be very much appreciated right now.

There is a fantastic playwright in Austin named Don Zolidis. I’m familiar with him because my theater won a prize at a conference a few years ago, and he wrote a play for us, which I ended up directing. He’s an amazing playwright. He has hundreds of plays out there that are very popular and performed all over the world. I follow him on Facebook, so I always hear about his latest publication and his many successes.

And I get a bit jealous. I mean, the man deserves his success – he’s incredibly talented and works very hard. But you know, I think what I write is pretty good. I think my plays would fill a niche that his may not necessarily fill. I think there are plenty of directors out there like me: in small schools (especially Christian schools) with limited casts and resources who would really appreciate my scripts. I’d love for them to get more exposure.

But the last few plays I submitted for publication were rejected. And that hurt a bit. I remember thinking that if Don Zolidis’ name had been on them, they probably wouldn’t even have needed to go through that acceptance process – a Zolidis script is automatically a go. But mine aren’t apparently worth the risk. Sigh . . .

Last week, my Resurrection Station scripture was the end of John 21. And it includes that bit of conversation where Jesus is hinting to Peter about the kind of death Peter is going to experience. (Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside down – at his request because he didn’t feel worthy of dying the same way his Lord did.)

Immediately after that pleasant revelation, Peter then asked Jesus about John's future fate. “What about him?”

I gotta say, I’m wondering what’s going on in Peter’s brain with this question. If I were directing actors in this scene, we would have to have a discussion about Peter’s motivation in this line. Is it just general curiosity? Maybe. Or is there some one-upmanship going on? Like, if I have to suffer this awful stuff, his is going to be worse, right? Or maybe more like, surely my death is going to be grander and more impressive than his will be, yes?

Jesus’ response implies that he knows Peter’s motivation is more about comparison than curiosity. He tells him, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? Follow me!”

Ouch.

And I need that reminder today. If I want Don Zolidis’ name and his plays to go all over the world, what is that to you? If I want him to be financially supported by his royalties, what is that to you? You’re not Don. You don’t have his talent . . . but you also don’t have his trials. Each of you is on your own path, your own spiritual obstacle course. Each of you has one job.

Follow me.

Sigh. Yes, Lord. Give me grace to do that joyfully.